History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c24.s5.6

v1.c24.s5.6

Some other manures are suggested in texts on Vṛkṣāyurveda (the science of plant life). The term is not restricted to the diseases of plants and trees and their treatment, but covers other aspects of their healthy growth. It can be traced in the Arthaśāstra (II. 24.1). The earliest available account of the science in the Bṛhatsaṃhitā contains some prescriptions about manure. It advises seeds to be sown in a parikarmita soil (Bṛh.S. LIV. 20). Bhaṭṭotpala explains the term to mean a soil in which sesasum was previously sown. The Bṛhatsaṃhitā prescribes that a circular hole (avaṭa), a cubit in diameter and two cubits deep, is to be dug and then filled with the milky decoction. When it dries up, it is to be burnt with fire and then pasted over with ghee and honey mixed with ashes. It is to be filled first with soil (mṛttikā), then with the powder of bean (māṣa), sesamum (tila) and barley and then again with soil. Finally, sprinkling the soil with the washings of fish and meat, it should be beaten and reduced to a thick consistency (Ibid. 24-25). The text further advises that a proper inflorescence and fructification the plants are to be watered with a mixture of two āḍhakas of powder of the excreta (śakṛt) of goats and sheep, one adhaka of sesamum, one prastha of barley powder (śaktu), one droṇa of water and one tulā of beef, all kept together for seven nights.